November 5, 2008 - Hardcore illegal drugs have claimed the lives of eight Knightstown-area residents over the past 15 months due to fatal overdoses. The Knightstown Police Department (KPD), now armed with a drug-sniffing canine, is firing back against the dealers.

KPD officer Derek Hall and his police dog “Buddy”, working with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department (HCSD), assisted in the arrest of a local man last Friday. Police say the man was in possession of roughly 30 packets of heroin bound for Knightstown.

The arrest occurred on Halloween west of Knightstown. The individual, whose identity was not released by police, had been under suspicion for some time, Hall said.

Greenfield police, HCSD officers and the KPD had been communicating with each other as to the man’s whereabouts for some time before a traffic stop was made last Friday.

HCSD officer Russell Silver stopped the man on U.S. 40 and called for a K-9 unit. Deputy Hall brought “Buddy” to the scene, and the KPD dog alerted on the automobile.

Once the door to the car was opened, the dog alerted on the center console, where police allegedly found 30 individual packets containing heroin.

“It was a cooperative effort between us and Hancock County,” Hall said. “We have been working together for some time, sharing information about different subjects. We had been waiting for the opportunity to catch this subject returning from Indianapolis with the drugs. We have very good reason to believe he was heading to Knightstown to make delivery of the heroin.”

The arrest marks Hall’s second involving heroin in a two-week period. Two area men were arrested after they were found in possession of four needles of heroin on Oct. 16. He said the KPD is very serious about its war on hardcore illegal drugs in the community and surrounding area.

“We’re also working very closely with the Carthage Police Department in their efforts to get rid of the problem,” Hall said. “We’re working with the area drug task forces in all three counties (Henry, Hancock and Rush). We’re getting a lot of cooperation from within the community. I think it’s pretty apparent that the citizens don’t want to see any more fatal overdoses.”

The man who was arrested last Friday was booked into the Hancock County Jail and is pending charges. As of press time Tuesday, authorities had not released his name.

Hall is confident that the KPD will soon strike a major blow against the drug dealers.

“We are going to win this war, they aren’t,” Hall said. “The heroin dealers will either leave town voluntarily, or we’ll drive them off. This is not the place they want to do business.”